


Hard Choices

by dalek_queen_97



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Teachers, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Initial Lisa Braeden/Dean Winchester, Losing Touch, M/M, Reunions, Supportive John, Supportive Mary, Teacher Castiel, Teacher Dean, finished work
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-10
Updated: 2015-12-18
Packaged: 2018-05-06 01:45:39
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,568
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5398181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dalek_queen_97/pseuds/dalek_queen_97
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean thought he had it all figured out.  He and his girlfriend Lisa were going strong.  Castiel and Benny, his best friends, had his back while they were finishing up grad school.  Dean's life was set.  One night changed Dean's life, but he had no idea how big of an impact it would actually have.</p>
<p>POSTING WILL BE BY 9PM PACIFIC TIME ON FRIDAYS.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey Everyone! The story is finished, and just needs to be edited.
> 
> I promise I'll try to post once a week on Thursdays by 9 pm Pacific Time. If you guys find any mistakes, please tell me! I don't have a beta so all mistakes are my own. Also, let me know if you have questions or if I need to change something in the story!
> 
> Let me know what you think!

Dean finally relaxed after finishing his math homework for the next day, ready to take a break after two hours of wracking his brain.  He looked at the pile of work next to him, only to be reminded that even if his math was done, there was still another three to four hours of homework he had to do left.  Why was he going to grad school again?  Oh yeah, he wanted to be a teacher.  So all he had to do was go through another two years of school only to be stuck back in high school again.  Yay.  With a monstrous grumble from his stomach, Dean looked down at his watch to confirm that he had indeed worked through lunch.  Just as he was about to get up from his seat in the quiet library, a sandwich landed in front of him.

“Thanks, Benny.  I owe you,” Dean replied while ripping into his sandwich and taking a huge bite.

“No problems at all.  When I got out of Chem and saw you hadn’t texted me for lunch plans I figured you were stuck up in here.  I thought I’d be nice and get you some food before you wasted away ‘cause of homework again,” Benny said with a smile.

       Dean gave him an open mouth smile in thanks, providing a magnificent view of the sandwich in his mouth.  Benny rolled his eyes before sitting down across the table from Dean and pulling out his own work.  They had developed a routine over their undergrad years, if someone didn’t text the other when they knew class got out, then they’d be at the usual table in the library - third floor, western corner table.  Nobody ever was at their section because it was located right next to the self-help section.  This was college, nobody ever admitted to needing help.

       They both settled back into work, Dean’s tall frame hunching over his laptop while Benny sprawled out in the chair like it was his bed.  Working together was always better than working alone, because where Dean excelled in math Benny needed help, and where Dean struggled in writing then Benny could help.  The pair worked without speaking, unless asking the other a question about how something sounded or whether that equation was right.  It went like that for an hour or so before the silence was interrupted by another backpack slamming down on the table.

       “Oops, my computer’s in there.  Oh well, I’ve done that enough that it would’ve broken by now if it was going to.”

       The boys shared an eye roll before replying in unison, “Hi, Cas.”

He grinned at them while pulling out a chair and setting his legs up on the table.  His jeans, Kansas University Sweatshirt, wide blue eyes and messy black hair making him look closer to 18 than the 23 he actually was.  Castiel always looked slightly disheveled, while Dean looked presentable in his fitted tees under plaid shirts and Benny looked like he was picked up out of the twenties.

Everyone around campus had seen the three walking around together; it was kind of hard not to when they were such a different mix.  Dean was the tallest of the group, but the combination of his pale skin, spiked blonde hair and stunning green eyes drew more attention than his height ever had.  Benny looked like he had already been through boot camp, twice.  He might not be six foot, but he was a wrestler and had thick arms and thighs to show for it.  His tough appearance had come in handy for Castiel, who was thinner than a rail, at more than one party, but he was really a teddy bear past his hard outer shell.  Castiel would have stuck out like a sore thumb even if he wasn’t with the other boys because of his laid back attire and because he looked like a single gust of wind would knock him over.  The three together always got whispers when they walked around, but they were happy being with each other.

       “So whatcha guys working on?  Anything exciting or are you still doing homework?” Castiel said while stealing a bite of what was left of Dean’s sandwich.

       “Hey! Stop that!  That’s my lunch, you thief,” Dean warned while taking his sandwich away from him and stuffing the rest in his mouth.

       “Dude, it’s like 2 already.  Why do you always do this?”

       Dean shrugged and turned back to his work, trying to ignore Castiel.  He might be one of his best friends, but that didn’t mean Cas got to steal his food.  Food was sacred and must not be shared.  Castiel scoffed before turning to Benny and bringing out his puppy dog eyes.  Benny looked back, determined not to break this time but the force of cute was too much for him.

       “Fine, you win this round, hot wings.”  Benny reached down into his backpack and pulled out his emergency sandwich that he knew he would need if Castiel joined them.  He threw it to him before teasing, “For something so skinny, you sure do consume a lot.”

       Castiel flipped him off, rolling his eyes back in pleasure at the first bite of his sandwich.  He dove into it and finished it within a minute only to turn back to his first victim, Dean.  “Dean, would you go get me some coffee?  I barely had the energy to get here, and it would take me so much longer to walk downstairs to the café than it would you,”  Cas pleaded while fluttering his eyelashes at him, knowing Dean was a pushover for his friends.

       “Fine, but you owe me,” Dean said.  “And don’t screw with my work!”

       He stalked off towards the stairs to go get him some coffee, knowing Cas was celebrating his achievement of getting him to do stuff for him.  Really, he was only going because he’d been sitting for hours and was starting to get a cramp in his left leg.  The line when he got to the coffee shop downstairs was longer than expected, but he didn’t mind since it gave him more time to stretch out.  Dean pulled his phone out of his pocket, checking to see if his girlfriend Lisa had replied to his text about dinner.  She hadn’t.   _Typical_ , Dean thought, _she gets mad when I don’t reply in a minute but ignores me for half a day without a thought._

       Lisa and Dean had been together since their sophomore year of undergrad, and he would do anything for her.  In fact, he recently watched the notebook with her when she was stressing from school.  Dean had even brought over her favorite chocolate ice cream – _the one with fudge, Dean_ – and hadn’t complained about Lisa’s movie choice. If that wasn’t love, then Dean had no idea what was.  Although they both wanted different things – Dean loved kids while Lisa loathed them, Lisa wanted to move to New York while Dean wanted to stay in the midwest – Dean truly thought that they could make it past anything.

       Dean surfaced from his thoughts just in time for the person in front of him to move away from the cashier.  He ordered black coffee for himself and Castiel’s milky, foamy drink of choice. He moved over to wait for his drink, going back to his phone.  Someone who was also on their phone bumped into him while walking past.  Dean looked up sorry already on his lips when he saw Lisa’s long, dark waves walking away.

       “Lisa?” He called to her.

       She looked up from her phone, scanning in front of her for the source of her name before turning around and seeing Dean.  Lisa’s face morphed from confusion into a smile as she came over to give him a quick kiss hello.

       “Hey, sweetheart.  What are you doing here?” She asked while putting her phone into her back jeans pocket.  “I thought you’d be holed up in your apartment doing homework.”

       “Actually, I’m taking a little break from that for the moment.  I’ve been working in the library since I always get more done.  I just needed some caffeine before getting back to work.”

       “Oh well that’s good,” Lisa said while looking around distractedly.  Dean figured she must have been waiting for her roommate, Anna.  The two looked like total opposites but got along like sisters.  Anna contrasted Lisa’s height, long black hair and tanned skin with a shock of red waves, light skin and a five-inch height difference.

       Dean looked over to the coffee counter when his name was called and told Lisa he would be back once he got his coffees.  He picked up his and Castiel’s drinks and put sugar in his own because he might like black coffee but sometimes it just needs to be sweeter.  Making his way back over to Lisa he saw her tapping the screen quickly before slipping it back into her pocket.  She looked back up at him when he reached her and stared at his hands.

       “Why are there two cups?” Lisa questioned with a sour look on her face.

       “Castiel wanted something too.  I needed to take a stretch break so I told him I’d get him the drink,” Dean replied.  “Is there something wrong with buying my friend coffee?”

       “I don’t know.  Is there a reason he always has you doing things for him?  Is it just you two _studying_ up there?”

       Dean rolled his eyes.  Lisa had never liked his friendship with Castiel and always questioned anything he did with him just because Dean told her he had dated boys in the past.  “No, it’s not just us studying together.  Benny joined me then Castiel did too after his class ended.  There’s nothing going on, just like there never is when you ask.”

       “Well, how would I know?  It seems like you’re seeing him more than you’re seeing me.  In case you forgot, I am your girlfriend, not Castiel,” Lisa said.

       Dean took a deep breath before telling her, “First, if I was dating Cas then he would be my boyfriend, not girlfriend.  The reason I’m seeing him more often is cause you’re always busy with something.  You never reply when I text you or even pick up your phone when I call.  Tell me why you should be jealous of me spending time with my friend when you never even talk to me anymore.  Hell, we haven’t even been out to dinner or lunch in a week, Lise.”

       Lisa’s face fell instantly, tears coming to her eyes.  “I’m sorry, Dean.  I’ve just been busy all the time and you know that our schedules don’t work well together.  I promise we’ll spend some time together soon.  I’ll even cancel movie night with Anna for you.  How does that sound?  Want to come over tomorrow?  Friday should be date night anyway.”

       “Yeah, that’s fine Lisa.  I gotta go though; I have a ton of work left to do today.  I’ll call you later okay?”

       She agreed and Dean started back up the stairs to Benny and Castiel.  He figured that getting all Friday night with his girlfriend was better than lunch or dinner fitting in around getting homework done.  He dropped off Castiel’s coffee and sat back down to work without saying anything to his friends.  Benny and Castiel shared a confused look, both wondering why Dean was acting so strange and not joking around with them like he usually did.  He normally would have waited for Castiel to promise his first born before giving him the coffee.  Castiel hoped that he was just tired with the amount of work left he had to do.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!
> 
> Thanks for the warm welcome and for everyone who's read this so far! I decided that since I have a ton of chapters to edit that I would try to update closer to twice a week!
> 
> Again, please let me know if you find anything that needs fixing!

       Lisa walked away from Dean and outside of the library.  She couldn’t believe she had seen him, sure that he would have been holed up in his apartment working on whatever math problems he had today.  She loved not living with her boyfriend because it gave her more freedom and time to herself.  She did like Dean, don’t get her wrong.  They had been together for almost five years now, and she has enjoyed their time together.  Lisa didn’t think they would stay together after school though.  They were just too different.  She liked to go out more than he did so she just didn’t tell him about her partying.  All Dean thought she did on the weekends was have movie nights with Anna.

       Now her and Anna, they had been friends since they met in highschool and ended up rooming together freshman year.  That meant she could get away with pulling Anna’s rank over Dean and “stay home for a movie marathon” every Friday night.  Lisa and Anna got along better than bread and butter.  They were both majoring in Journalism and had shared most of their classes since they started at Oregon State.  Lisa had been nervous about coming to Kansas because she had lived down in California all her life.  Since she had grown up in the outskirts of LA Lisa was used to bigger cities around her.  Lawrence was small to say the least.  It was nice, but it just wasn’t her style.  Although Kansas wasn’t her favorite, she had ended up loving the KU campus and everyone she had met there.

       As Lisa started walking home, she pulled out her phone and gave Anna a call.  After her most recent fight with Dean, Lisa needed to let off some steam.  Who cared if it was a Thursday, this was a college campus so there would always be people out partying.  Anna agreed to meet her at their favorite bar just off campus once they were both out of class.  Lisa made her way to her last class of the day after saying bye to her roommate and braced herself to get through an hour of World Politics.  She sat down in her usual seat out of the circle of desks.  Grad classes never let you skip, which was something Lisa really needed today.  Either way, she pulled out her book and settled in for whatever discussion they were having today.

       As soon as her teacher dismissed class for the day, Lisa escaped school and headed towards Vortex, the best bar right off of campus.  She really just needed to let her stress go and hopefully find someone to dance with tonight.  Following a couple into the bar, Lisa scanned the few tables for Anna.  Lisa found her friend’s long red waves easily enough and headed over to a small table near the pool tables.  She dropped her bag under the table and flopped into the chair Anna wasn’t sitting in.  Relieved to finally be done with school for the day, Lisa dropped her head to the table.

       “Somebody had a bad day,” Anna observed.  Normally, Lisa would have gotten some fruity drink before launching into a crazy story from class that day.  Anna had been surprised that they were going out on a Thursday instead of Friday but she bet it had something to do with Dean.

       “Understatement,” Lisa mumbled.  “You’d better order me some shots cause I need them after the day I’ve had.”  She moved her head to rest on her hand, elbow on the table.  “Please, Anna?  I’ll tell you all about it but I need something in me first.”

       “Fine, but I expect details from you.  No going off about how many ‘spaghettis’ you’ve had in your life tonight okay?”

       Lisa gave her best friend a grin as she got up from the table to go get their shots.  She would have to get the story of what happened today out soon, cause shots always made her a lot drunker a lot quicker than a beer or something.  As soon as Anna put their shots on the table Lisa grabbed her two and knocked them back.  She launched into what had been said after running into Dean at the library and her promise of Friday night with him.

       “Okay, I see why we’re out tonight then,” Anna observed.  “If this is our night out for the week, then let’s get drunk.  I wanna see you over on the dance floor not caring about what’s his face.  You and I are going to have fun before that boy comes over tomorrow and takes away our Friday night.”

       “Cheers to that,” Lisa said before drinking another round of shots the waiter had dropped off.  She gave him a smile and asked when the dance floor would start up.  He told her it wouldn’t be more than an hour and asked if they wanted anything to eat while they waited.

       “Well, some french fries would be amazing,” Anna told him.  “Oh, and can we get two gin and tonics?  With lemon and lime please.”

       “Not a problem, ladies.  I’ll be right back with your drinks and bring you your food when it’s ready,” the waiter said with a wink.

       Lisa’s eyes followed him as he walked away before turning to Anna and seeing her doing the same thing.  Once she looked back over at Lisa, Anna said, “Damn.  He’s got a fine ass.”  Both the girls giggled, the shots starting to make them float a little.

       The two girls continued to drink and talk about their days to waste time until the bar started to liven up.  They dove into the fries then they were dropped off, happy to munch on something while floating on the haze of the unending alcohol.  Before they even realized time had passed, the deep thumping of bass interrupted their conversation.  People started moving towards the sunken dance floor in the middle of the bar as the music got louder and the lights got lowered.  Anna took Lisa’s hand and together they stumbled as gracefully as possible over to where others were already dancing.  As soon as they had made it onto the floor, the two were welcomed into the rolling waves of people pressed together.  A body pressed up against Lisa’s back and she let herself get lost in the smooth movements of the man behind her.

 

****

       Lisa groaned when light started to hit her face.  Her whole head was pounding and felt like it was filled with cotton.  She started to open her eyes but they flinched closed at the bright surroundings.  Instinctively, she snuggled back into her pillow to try and go back to sleep.  An arm wrapped around her waist which made Lisa’s eyes fly open in confusion.  Taking a look at what she could see from her position on the bed, Lisa didn’t see anything familiar.   _What happened last night_ Lisa wondered.  all she could remember was going drinking and dancing with Anna.  She remembered the fight with Dean, and the she asked for  shots.   _Anna should have known better_ , Lisa internally groaned.  Shots make her black out too easily, and then something always happens that Lisa regrets.

       Drawing in a breath, Lisa braced herself to turn around and find out who’s bed she’s sharing.  Switching what side she was lying on, Lisa held her breath so she wouldn’t wake her bedmate.  Her eyes searched his face, willing any memories of last night to stop floating around and hopefully let her recognize the man.  He had light brown hair that was sticking up on one side.  His skin was tan and Lisa thought she recognized his face.  She thought he had winked at her some point during the night, but when?  It must have been before dancing because that was where things got blurry.  The waiter.  He was the waiter Lisa and Anna were staring at all night.   _Crap.  Why did it have to be him?  Now I can never show my face at Vortex again_ Lisa complained.

       Rolling onto her back, Lisa stared up at the ceiling hoping it would give her advice on what to do before Mr. Waiter woke up.  It obviously didn’t work because she felt him stir and move closer to her.

       “Morning,” Mr. Waiter mumbled.

       “Um, morning,” Lisa replied.  “I’m really sorry, but I’m gonna have to get going now.  Thanks for letting me stay over.”

       Waiter boy turned his head to look at her.  A sleepy smile teased his face, blue eyes growing mischievous before saying, “Sure you don’t want to have any more fun before you go?”

        _Double crap_ Lisa thought, _we did sleep together_.  “I would, but I’ve got class in half an hour and I really can’t miss any more this term,” she said while getting out of bed to find her clothes.  She could feel his gaze wandering down her turned back so she hurried to the bathroom when she had found her dress from yesterday.  Once dressed, she looked at herself in the mirror.  How could she have cheated on Dean?  Sure she partied, but she had never cheated on him.  Now wasn’t the time to think about that.  Lisa had to find a way out of this situation and that meant getting home.  She leaned closer and wiped off some residual makeup under her eyes from last night.  Satisfied with her appearance, Lisa figured she’d go home, talk things over with Anna and go from there.  

Lisa walked back into the bedroom with her head held high.  The waiter was still in bed and looked over when she walked into his room and said, “Thanks for last night but I gotta get going.  See you around?”

       “Sure,” he drawled.  “Come back to the bar anytime, Lisa.”

       She gave him a tight smile before finding her way out of the apartment and down to the street.  She brought up Google maps on her phone and typed in her address.  10 minutes walking, not too bad for being some random guy’s house.  She took off down the street where the directions said, and called Anna on the way.

       On the third ring, Lisa was greeted with a very worried “Lisa! Oh thank God.  I had no idea where you were.  Please tell me you crashed with some girl from class.”

       “Not… not really, Anna.  I messed up.”

       The phone was silent for a minute.  Lisa turned right and continued walking towards her home.

       “You slept with someone, didn’t you?” Anna asked.

       Lisa nodded, before remembering that Anna couldn’t see her.  “Yeah.  I blacked out once we started dancing and I woke up with our waiter.”

       She had to take a deep breath to keep the waver from her voice.

       “Anna, I cheated on Dean.  How could I do that to him?”

       “Oh, sweetheart, you’ll be okay.  We can figure all of this out when you get home, okay?”

       “Yeah,” Lisa sniffed.  “I’m almost there so I’ll talk to you when I’m home.”

       Hanging up, she pulled herself together for the last minute of the walk.  She trudged up to the third floor of her apartment building and fitted her key into the lock.  The door opened before she had unlocked it, though, and she fell into Anna’s waiting arms.

“Please don’t tell him.  Please don’t tell Dean,” Lisa cried into Anna’s embrace.

       Anna shushed her, telling her it would be okay, she wouldn’t tell Dean, that they’d get through this.  Lisa held on to her roommate for a few more minutes before wiping her eyes and heading to lay down in her own bed.  She could face Dean later, but only after a nap.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know, I've got this written and up through chapter 10 Dean and Lisa are together. After that the story starts going more towards Dean and Cas but this will be a slower burn. I have all of it written, so don't worry about the story getting abandoned!


	3. Chapter 3

All day Friday, Dean was looking forward to spending the evening with Lisa because it had been so long since they had a night in to themselves.  Both of them being in grad school didn’t lead to a ton of extra time, especially when Lisa reserved Fridays as roommate time.  The fact that she was willing to give that time up to spend with Dean made him feel like the luckiest guy in the world.  Dean planned on bringing over their favorite Thai food, from the corner of Washington and ninth street, and curling up on the couch to watch bad TV and talk.  Since the two hadn’t been able to talk alone for about a month, Dean was sure they wouldn’t have enough time to catch each other up.

At seven, Dean knocked on Lisa’s apartment door, dinner in hand.  She answered the door a second later with a smile on her face.  Lisa was dressed down in yoga pants and a KU sweatshirt so Dean was glad he came over in old sweats and a soft tee.  He followed her into the apartment and went directly to the couch off the door that was in front of their TV.  Dean set the bag with food down on the coffee table in front of him while Lisa sat down to his left and curled up.  They each took a styrofoam box of food and some chopsticks to start eating.

“So,” Dean said while covering his full mouth.  “What do you want to watch tonight?  I was thinking we could continue marathoning Game of Thrones since we haven’t seen any in like a month.”

“Sure,” Lisa said without looking up.

“You okay, Lise?”

“Hmm?  Oh, yeah I’m fine.  Just kinda tired, I guess,” She shrugged.

“Alright, then is Game of Thrones good with you?”

Lisa nodded her assent and got Netflix set up on her TV.  Dean wasn’t sure what was going on with her today.  She should have been leaning into his side and stealing food out of his container even though they ordered the same thing.  He shrugged it off, figuring that it was because of their little fight the day before.  Lisa probably was still a little mad about him spending so much time will Castiel.  Normally, she got over it before they got together again, but it was most likely the amount of time it had been since they had been alone together.  She would get back to normal by the time they went to bed, Dean reasoned.

Half an episode into Game of Thrones Lisa got up and grabbed a bottle of wine from the kitchen just behind the couch.  She poured two glasses, which Dean easily accepted.  They both took a sip and continued watching Game of Thrones without putting their glasses down.  When they both finished their first glass of wine, Dean poured Lisa and himself another glass and settled back on the couch.  He wrapped his arm around Lisa when she settled into his side with her hand on his knee.  They continued to drink and watch Game of Thrones while trading little comments about what was going on and criticizing Joffrey's decisions.  Soon enough, a second and third bottle of wine had been opened and finished along with season two of their show.  Lisa took Dean’s glass from him to set it with hers on the coffee table before grabbing his hand and leading him to her room for the night.

 

****

       Dean blinked awake, still tangled up with Lisa.  He looked over at her still sleeping face, happy to see how peaceful she looked.  Glad that he got to spend the night before with her, Dean carefully slid out of bed and got dressed while trying not to wake Lisa up.  He went over to her side of the bed and leaned down.  Dean swept the hair off her face before waking her up with a kiss to the forehead and a whisper of her name.

       Lisa’s eyes fluttered open, still heavy with sleep, as she said, “Dean?  You leaving?”

       “Yeah, sweetheart.  I’ve gotta do homework and it’s already noon.  I had fun last night, we should have dates more often.”

       “Mkay,” Lisa yawned.  “Love you.”

       And with that, Dean watched her bury herself deeper into the nest of blankets she always kept on her bed.  He knew Lisa would probably sleep until four if permitted and that she didn’t mind when he left.  Her only requirement was that she be woken up before Dean went home.  After making sure Lisa was all wrapped up in her nest, Dean made his way out of the apartment and locked it behind himself.

       Dean started to smile brightly on his walk home from Lisa’s.  They really hadn’t had much time together in weeks, let alone time to themselves.  It felt nice to be with her again, like they had been when they first started dating. Dean had never cared if they were out eating at the fanciest restaurant either of them could afford or if they were just taking a nap together.  He loved spending time with her however and whenever he could.  Being with Lisa again was already making Dean want to see her more.  For the rest of his walk home Dean daydreamed about getting to spend more time with his girlfriend.  Where he would take her to eat, things they had always wanted to do together, and shows Dean wanted to watch with Lisa all crossed his mind.

       So caught up in his musings, Dean barely noticed when he floated into his own apartment.   He wandered into his own room, through the living room and down the hall past Benny’s room, before realizing he was home.  Flopping down onto his bed, Dean pulled out his homework he hadn’t gotten through after class on Friday and got to work.  He was able to work for a solid hour before his stomach demanded to be fed.  Dean sighed, figuring that Benny would be out in the living room just waiting for Dean to come out of hiding so Benny could grill him about his date night.  After weighing the need for food compared with the annoyance of human interaction, Dean decided it was worth the trip out of his room.

       “Well, look who’s home,” Benny declared when Dean walked passed him on his way to the fridge.  “You know, most people would be gloating about getting laid on a Friday night.  Now I’m not one to judge, so you can tell me if you didn’t hit that.”

       Dean rolled his eyes while his head was stuck in the fridge during his quest for food.  “You know,” Dean replied mockingly, “most people wouldn’t be this involved in their roommate’s sex life.

       “So…does that mean you didn’t get any last night?”

       Dean pulled his attention away from the sandwich he was making long enough to flip Benny off, who then put his hands up in front of him in a placating gesture.  Dean had forgotten how fun it was to joke around with Benny about his relationship.  The two were always poking fun at each other whether they were seeing anybody or not.  In order to really show how little he cared about Benny’s teasing, Dean shoved half of his sandwich in his mouth at once.

       “Pretty.  Does Lisa like it when you do that for her?”  Benny responded.

       “Yup!” Dean declared around his half-chewed bite.

       “Alright, then.  C’mon, let’s take a break from homework while you’re already up for food and play some Super Smash Bros,” Benny suggested.

       Dean picked up his other sandwich half and followed his friend out of the kitchen to their couch.  While Dean finished his late lunch, Benny set up their old game cube and brought up the game.  He handed Dean a controller and they proceeded to waste time until their adult responsibilities became relevant.

       Once they had both finished their work for the day, the two boys called Castiel to have him over for dinner and a movie marathon.  It was their weekly appointment that could not be missed for anything.  Some weeks were hectic for the grad students, which meant they didn’t’ get to see their friends, but they made time for each other like they had since freshman year.  Castiel came over around 8 with their usual extra large combo supreme pizza that was always demolished.  All three piled on the couch with a beer and piece of pizza each.

       “How was your date, Dean?”  Castiel asked before taking a bite.

       “Good.  We watched Game of Thrones and then you know…”

       “Our little Dean boy got some, Castiel!” Benny exclaimed.

       “God, do you always have to do that after a night with Lisa?” Dean asked.

       His two friends leaned forward on the couch to look at each other then turned to Dean in the middle and simultaneously replied, “Yes.”

       Dean resigned himself to another round of their teasing.  He let his friends giggle like little girls about his night before declaring it time for Star Wars.  Both Castiel and Benny groaned before agreeing.  They always put up a token fight because it was their duty as Dean’s friends to “always try and expand your tastes in film, Dean.”  They all settled in together, two blankets spread across the small group.  Since they hadn’t started the movie until close to nine, everyone agreed to only watch episodes IV and V before calling it a night.  Dean mouthed every line until Castiel elbowed him in the ribs, caught up in the story even though he had seen it at least 12 times.

       Relaxed, Dean enjoyed their normal weekend routine.  As much as he loved Lisa, nothing could compare with spending time with his two best friends.  They always had each other’s backs and would always tell Dean if he was being an idiot about something.  He burrowed further into the couch, happy to watch his favorite movies with his favorite people.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'll be on vacation for the next week so I'm gonna try to get another chapter up tonight before I leave! I'm not sure if I will have internet there, so if I don't get a chapter up by Friday next week then that's why!


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